School of Psychology, Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador.
Faculty of Health Science, One Health Research Group, Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador.
PLoS One. 2020 Sep 30;15(9):e0240008. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240008. eCollection 2020.
Ecuador has been one of the most affected countries by the Corona Virus Disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic, by April 2020 this country presented the highest rates of mortality in Latin America. The purpose of the present study was to identify behaviors during confinement and sociodemographic variables associated with the mental health status of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients who were part of the epidemiological surveillance program in Ecuador that included mandatory confinement and self-isolation. A cross-sectional study was performed from March 22th to April 18th, 2020 using an online survey. The survey collected socio-demographic information and severity of depressive symptoms using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and anxiety symptoms through the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7. A total of 759 patients completed the questionnaire, 20.3% presented moderate to severe symptoms of depression and 22.5% moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety. Being a woman and from the Coastal region were risk factors. Exercising, maintaining daily routines, and keeping informed about the COVID-19 but limiting to an hour was associated with better mental health. Regression analysis indicated that the mentioned behaviors explained approximately 17% of the variance for depression sum scores and 11.8% of the variance for anxiety sum scores while controlling for gender and region. Understanding the association between sociodemographic variables and psychological states in patients with COVID-19 is relevant to tackle future public mental health problems and to implement health policies that are intended to palliate further psychiatric complications. Promotion of modifiable behaviors such as exercising, maintaining daily routines, and keeping informed about the COVID-19 but limiting to less than an hour is recommended.
厄瓜多尔是受 19 冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行影响最严重的国家之一，到 2020 年 4 月，该国的死亡率在拉丁美洲最高。本研究的目的是确定在厄瓜多尔流行病学监测计划中被隔离和自我隔离的确诊或疑似 COVID-19 患者的禁闭期间的行为和与心理健康状况相关的社会人口学变量。这是一项在 2020 年 3 月 22 日至 4 月 18 日期间进行的横断面研究，采用在线调查。该调查使用病人健康问卷-9 收集社会人口统计学信息和抑郁症状严重程度，使用广泛性焦虑障碍-7 收集焦虑症状。共有 759 名患者完成了问卷，20.3%的患者有中度至重度抑郁症状，22.5%的患者有中度至重度焦虑症状。女性和沿海地区是危险因素。锻炼、保持日常习惯和了解 COVID-19 但限制在 1 小时以内与更好的心理健康有关。回归分析表明，在控制性别和地区后，这些行为解释了抑郁总分的约 17%和焦虑总分的 11.8%的方差。了解 COVID-19 患者的社会人口学变量与心理状态之间的关系，对于解决未来的公共心理健康问题和实施旨在减轻进一步精神并发症的卫生政策具有重要意义。建议推广可改变的行为，如锻炼、保持日常习惯和了解 COVID-19，但限制在 1 小时以内。
